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Landmark visit to Venezuela by INTERPOL Chief seeks to boost international law enforcement co-operation

INTERPOL Secretary General to meet with Luisa Ortega Díaz, la fiscal general de Venezuela to discuss blocked Red Notices

CARACAS, Venezuela – In a first official mission to Venezuela by an INTERPOL Secretary General, Ronald K. Noble is to meet today with Luisa Ortega Díaz, la fiscal general de Venezuela, and other senior officials from la Fiscalia to discuss blocked Red Notices and ways to improve co-operation between INTERPOL and Venezuela. Specifically, the head of INTERPOL will discuss why INTERPOL’s fully independent Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) has recommended the blocking of a number of Venezuelan Red Notices, or international wanted persons alerts, for certain banking officials as the requests raised doubts in relation to their compliance with INTERPOL’s rules.

INTERPOL Secretary General Noble is carrying out this historic mission to ensure that the current disagreement between Venezuela and INTERPOL and its independent oversight body, the CCF, on whether INTERPOL should issue Red Notices in a specific category of cases for specific defendants will not be misconstrued as a broader conflict between Venezuela and INTERPOL.

“There are currently more than 100 valid Red Notices issued by INTERPOL on behalf of Venezuela in circulation worldwide. The decision therefore to refuse specific Red Notices, in a specific category of cases and for specific defendants should not be interpreted as any kind of ‘attack’ on Venezuela, but simply that INTERPOL is adhering to its rules,” stated Mr Noble.

“The sovereignty of Venezuela and every INTERPOL member country is paramount and fully respected by the General Secretariat, however for the use of INTERPOL’s tools such as our Red Notices which can impede a person's ability to travel internationally, it is vital that our rules and regulations are adhered to in order to maintain confidence and trust in our actions as an independent intergovernmental organization,” added INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble.

INTERPOL is aware that many Venezuelans have lost large amounts of money linked to alleged criminal conduct on the part of certain banks and individuals operating in Venezuela. Venezuelan citizens, like the citizens of any country, have the right to expect their governments to investigate such alleged crimes to the fullest extent of the law.

In order to ensure that cases that comply with INTERPOL’s rules for the issuance of Red Notices can be identified, INTERPOL’s Secretary General will propose opening direct channels of communication between Venezuela’s Fiscalia and INTERPOL’s Office of Legal Affairs. Establishing direct lines of communication will improve mutual understanding of Venezuela’s laws in relation to issues such as banking fraud and conflicts of interest and INTERPOL’s rules concerning pre-requisites for the issuance of Red Notices.

“It is out of respect for Venezuela as a valued member country that I offered to travel to Caracas to personally meet with Luisa Ortega Díaz, la fiscal general de Venezuela, and other senior officials from la Fiscalia to discuss blocked Red Notices. Today's meeting will permit us to discuss issues of mutual concern in an open and transparent manner, and I am sure that our discussions will be productive on many levels,” concluded Mr Noble.